Denver is on a list of 30 U.S. cities where Facebook will hold Community Boost events this summer, free week-long training sessions where entrepreneurs can learn to use tools as simple as Instagram and a mobile phone to boost online buzz around their businesses.

“We chose the Denver region because it is home to many small businesses and entrepreneurs that are driving economic growth across the region,” Aneesh Raman, a member of Facebook’s global policy team said in an email Tuesday. “At this event we will work with local partners to provide a wide range of
training.”

The time, date and location of the Denver event will be announced soon, Raman said.

“There will be a number of programs and breakout sessions, some driven by what the community identifies as important to them,” he wrote. He said the St. Louis program, taking place this week, includes workshops like “Getting Business Done with Instagram” and “Getting Creative with your Mobile Phone.”

Anne Parker plans to attend the local event and share a bit of her expertise. After she had a baby seven years ago, the Denver-based personal trainer decided she didn’t have time to run a brick-and-mortar training business full-time. She took her workout and nutrition planning services exclusively online. She credits a Facebook page with more than 7,200 followers and strategically timed and targeted ad buys on the website, for helping her business thrive.

“I’ll write an article and do strategically placed Facebook ads (around it) specifically for my demographic,” Parker explained of her approach, aimed at reaching moms over 40. “I can reach a much larger audience — a global audience — rather that just people in the traditional 7-mile radius around my brick and mortar facility in Denver.”

Marketing specialist Scott Davidson said Facebook has been an essential element of building hype around bottle releases and other special events in the last 18 months. Davidson used Facebook data to determine the best time to boost Black Project posts on the site is Friday and Saturday between 3 and 9 p.m., when young, educated male beer drinkers are most likely to be online.

“That’s really why Facebook is so prevalent,” he said. “They are able not only to identify and target the market you are going after, they are able to get the cost per impression so low.”

Facebook claims a recent study it participated in with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that 56 percent of all small and medium-sized business on the site say it has helped them improve sales.

But Facebook’s ability to protect the massive amount of data is keeps on users has come under fire recently.

Joe Rubino focuses on consumer news for The Denver Post. He wrote for the Broomfield Enterprise, Boulder Daily Camera and YourHub before joining the Post's business team in 2017. A Denver native, he attended Kennedy High School and the CU journalism school. He once flew a plane for 30 seconds on assignment.